Internal combustion engine



Nov. 24, 1942. V$ E, C| |F|= y INTERNAL COMBUSTION EGINE Filed May 4, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l Inventar E, @j m s Nv. 24, 1942. I s, cLlFF' y INTERNAL coMBUsTIoN ENGINE l Filed May 4, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 2 .fg 4f fifa .y l@

Nav. 24, 1942. s. E. CLIFF y' 2,303,625

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.l I J 7 l. 4 J 2/ *jd* Z V' .l -Zf' v l -ZZ f fmh y' I INU .2 a! M nml -f I l A 25 2a 7 III I'II' i HHM Z n! u 'el' 7(y I nl 2 5 r II Il', 24 `zml Y i /7 v l l I l lm'wltor Y zanlqyl'lgff Nov. 24, 1942. s. E. cLlFF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 4. 1942 4 Sheets-Shea?l 4 Inventor w Sia/rale Patented Nov. 24, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' INTERNAL coMUs'rIoN ENGINE n stanley E. Cliff, Napa, Calif. Application May 4, 1942, serial No, 441,092 V l (Cina-51) 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in internal combustion engines of a type in which the cylinders are arranged in the form of a square comprising a plurality of polygonal sets of cylinders disposed in side-byside relation and defining a polyhedron with the crankshafts of the pistons operated in the cylinders located at the corners of adjacent cylinders and the invention has for its primary object to provide cylinder blocks of duplicate construction with a pair of the cylinders arranged in opposed relation at each side of the engine and providing a spacing block between the adjacent Figure 8 is' a .perspective view of one of the cylinder linings.

' of the cylinders.

the engine are positioned as well as the spari:l

plugs, or other forms of ignition for the explosive charge.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide means for operatively connecting eachof thecrankshafts at the four corners of the engine and forlco'nnecting the valve) operating cam shafts for synchronous actuation to equalize distribution of the power strokes of the several cylinders.

A still further object is to provide an engine of lthis character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and -reliable in performance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and maintain in operationyand otherwise well adapted for the purposesfforfwhich the same is intended. j

, Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation asmore fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanyirigkdrawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout and in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view' through the assembled enginel cylinders.

Figure 2 is an end elevational View.

Figure 3 is a'. side elevational view of one side of the engine.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through one of the engine cylinders taken substantially on a line,v

4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through `one of the spacing blocks for a pair of the cylinders taken substantially on ai line 5-'5 of Figure 1.

l Figure 6 is la fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of one of the crankshafts taken substantially on a line 6-6 of Figure 1.

"Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the cylinders removed from the engine.

strokes.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates one of the engine cylinders of which there are eight employed in constructing a complete'engine unit arranged in the form of a square as shown to advantage in Figure 1 of the drawings, a pair of the cylinders being disposed at each side of the square in opposed relation. and if desired two or more complete engine units may be connected in side-by-side relation as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

'I'he opposed ends of the cylinders are formed with anges 6 between which is positioned a spacing block 1 and connected thereto by bolts 8. Inwardly projecting shoulders 9 are formed adjacent each 'end of the cylinders against'which is tted a cylinder llining I D to form a water jacket II between the walls of the cylinder and the lining.

The adjacent ends of the' linings IIJ have flanges I2 adapted to overlie .the adjacentshouL,

ders of the cylinders and the linings are held in position by the spacing block l, the spacing block 1 having a bore t3 in alignment with theadjacent cylinders.

A piston I4 is provided with a working fit in each of the cylinder linings I0, each piston having a piston rod I5 connected thereto in the usual manner and atttched to a crankshaft I6 by means of a bearing I1.

'I'he en ds of the cylinder blocks at the corners of the engine are flared out into curved walls to form a crankcase I8 connected together by means of vflanges I9, the shaft I6 having its ends jour-- naled in the opposite sides of the crankcase.

Each of the crankshafts is formed with opposed cranks 20 for connecting the piston rod I5 of adjacent engine units at adjacent sides of the engine, the pistons connected to said crankshafts thus having opposite power and suction The outer ends of the crankshaft I6 are also journaled in bearings 2| disposed outwardly of the crank cases and the bearings 2I at each side of the engine are connected by tie rods 22. The crankshafts I6, at the respective corners of the engine, are connected for synchronous operation 55 by means of gears 23, preferably of the herring bone type, connected to the respective crankshafts, each of the gears 23'being engaged by a gear 24 secured on a cam shaft 25 and the gears 24 are engaged by a central idler gear 26 mounted on a shaft 21. The shafts 25 and 21 are supported in arms 28 connected to one side of each pair of the engine cylinders.

Each ofthe cam shafts 25 is also provided with cams 29 arranged for operating a valve push rod 30 journaled inguides 3l at the sides of the cylinder blocks, the push rods being arranged for actuating rockers 32 pivoted on brackets 33 for actuating the valves 34 mounted in the spacing blocks 1 for controlling the intake and discharge ports 35 and 36 formed in the spacing blocks and communicating with the combustion chambers I3 between the opposed ends of the cylinders blocks.

The engine is designed for using either gasonline or Diesel fuel and when using Diesel fuel the spacing blocks 1 are provided with a fuel injector 31 of conventional construction and when the engine uses gasoline as the fuel, a spark plug (not shown) is substituted in place of the injector 31.

Each of the crankcases I8 is provided with a cleanout and repair opening 38 having a -cover 39 secured in position thereon by means of the bolts 40. A

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in end to end relation to form a square, each side of the square being composed of a pair of cylinders, a spacing block between each of said pairs of cylinders and connecting one end of the cylinders, an enlarged casing segment at the other end of each cylinder connected together at the corners of the square bank of cylinders to form a crankcase at each corner, a piston working in each cylinder, crankshafts .journaled in the crank-cases and operatively connected to the pistons, intake and exhaust ports in the spacing blocks, valves controlling said ports, and gears connecting the crank-shafts for synchronous operation of the several pistons.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in end to end relation to form a square, each side of the square being composed of a pair of cylinders, a spacing block between each of said pairs of cylinders and connecting one end of the cylinders, an enlarged casing segment at the other end of each cylinder connected together at the corners of the square bank of cylinders to form a crankcase at each corner, a piston working in each cylinder, crankshafts journaled in the crank-cases and operatively connected to the pistons, intake and exhaust ports in the spacing blocks, valves controlling said ports, cam shafts for operating the valves, gears connecting the cam shafts with the crankshafts, and gears connecting the cam shafts and crankshafts for synchronous operation.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in end t0 end relation to form a square, each side of the square being composed of a pair of cylinders, a spacing block between each of said pairs of cylinders and connecting one end of the cylinders, an enlarged y casing segment at the other end of each cylinder connected together at the corners of the square bank of cylinders to form a crankcase at each corner, a piston working in each cylinder, crank-A shafts journaled in the crank cases and operatively connected to the pistons, intake and exhaust ports in the spacing blocks, valves controlling said ports, cam shafts for operating the valves,.gears connecting the cam shafts with the crankshafts, and a centrally disposed idler gear connecting said rst named gears for synchronous operation of the pistons.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in end to end relation to form a square, each side of the square being composed of a pair of cylinders, and each cylinder including'a crankcase segment at one end adapted for attaching to the segment of an adjacent cylinder to form a crank case at each corner of the engine, an internal shoulder at the other end of each cylinder, a liner in the cylinder having a ilange seated on the shoulder, and a spacing block interposed between each pair of cylinders and havi'ng a bore communicating with the cylinders, said spacing block having intake and discharge ports communicating with adjacent cylinders.

STANLEY E. CLIFF. 

